gatravis

UK MY99 Impreza, car starts OK, but quite often alarm chirps when cranking car over, but car does start OK.
Reason I am asking, is that I spoke to someone else with similar symptom, and now his battery has died totally and car would not start.
Does anyone have any similar experience, as I am thinking of buying new battery before I end up in similar position.

Or is it just a coincidence that (or a "feature") that the alarm chirps occasinally when starting. Thinking that if battery is on its way out, then voltage may drop momentarily under high load (i.e starting engine) causing alarm to chirp (fault?), then recovers OK..... until it may finally fail.

Thanks


Graham

tarquin trousers

my alarm went through a brief stage of chirping. The battery finally died and I was able to jump start it. I was convinced it was the battery...drove off to get a new one....could I start it??? once the new battery went in, the alarm locked up and didn't stop for four hours!!! In the end my key fob managed to get out of sync and a friend had to bring over a spare.

After much cursing and expletives, the alarm gave off a few chirps and was ok once more. In short it was very upset at loosing external power. Quite a major indicator that problems were ahead, was the sluggishness of the starter motor. Have you had the levels looked at on the battery or is it sealed??

I'd check before you upset the residents of an ederly care home you happen to be parked outside of...not nice!

good luck!

gatravis

Thanks for that.
One thing I will try later (at work at the mo) is to monitor the battery voltage when turning the engine over. I have a SECS unit that monitors the voltage, so I can look at that when starting the car to see if the voltage drops excessively.
If I do change the battery will bear your comments in mind and have the spare alarm remote ready.

Have checked the battery electrolyte levels, and they seem OK

Graham

[Edited by gatravis - 7/16/2003 8:47:23 PM]

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

My MY00 developed similar symptoms - chirpy alarm shortly followed by failure to start - earlier this year. In my case it was simple lack of battery maintenance, and a top-up and recharge soon sorted it.

That said, your battery is probably nearing the end of its useful life by now, so there's no real harm in replacing it. Do it now before you're left stranded somewhere and it won't seem like nearly such a big deal!

Andy

gatravis

got the battery checked by Halfords using their electronic tester.
The battery is rated at 400AH according to their info, the test result said the battery was only good for 192AH, and gave the message change battery. So thats it, bought a new battery today, with 585AH hi power rating as it was onlt a few quid more.

Alarm chirps no more when starting the engine.

So if your Sigma alarm "chirps" when cranking the engine over, your battery MAY be on its way out so may be worth having it tested
(it`s a FREE test, so go for it)

Graham

Nezz10

My Sigma started to chirp on crank and the stero being on for a while would drain it flat so I got a new one and what a difference it made!! Turned over with so much more confidence and no chirps!!

Mine a a MY00 so it was 3 years old which seems to be about the life of them. I got me a 425 crank amps battey for £40ish i think.

kevin stanton

I had the same chiping a couple of months ago, then the battery died.


Kevin